


Futures Form as Bubbles Burst

by DryCereal



Series: Fatherhood [3]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Happy Family, M/M, Surrogacy, extreme fluff, parent!phan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 21:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11216187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DryCereal/pseuds/DryCereal
Summary: What starts out as  a normal evening in the Howell-Lester household quickly changes into what will be a memorable evening as an important and exciting decision is made.





	Futures Form as Bubbles Burst

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a [piece](https://twitter.com/flamemanged/status/837212074413445121) of [art](http://degnam.tumblr.com/post/157896360413/bubbo-baff-follow-up-to-this) by the incredible manged (or flay-flem...fleh... as Dan mentioned in a recentish-LS!)  
> (I take no responsibility if you never emerge from the phanart bubble I've just linked you to. None whatsoever.)
> 
> But this, as always, spiralled and ran away with itself. But anyway! Hope you enjoy the toxic-level fluff! <3

The sound of the dishwasher rumbling into action is drowned out by a strangled yell and a high-pitched squeal of laughter coming from the bathroom. He can’t but smile broadly as he pads quietly upstairs and along the hallway towards the source of the noise.  
  
He opens the door and almost immediately bursts out laughing when he surveys the scene laid out before him. There are bubbles sprayed across the entirety of the room, starting to slowly drip down the walls, but his attention is drawn, as always, to the two people who matter most to him in the world. One sat splashing her arms excitedly on the surface of the water in the bath, and the other sat still, as if in shock, as he stares around the room, soaking wet, covered in bubbles dripping from the hood of the onesie down the side of his face onto the mound resting on his lap.  
  
Phil pulls himself together enough to stop laughing, grabs a towel from the folded pile on the shelf and makes a quick circuit of the room, wiping up the worst of the bubbles, before tossing the towel, bubbles and all into the laundry hamper in the corner. Grabbing another towel, he gently dries off the side of his husband’s face, before dropping a chaste kiss on his forehead as he turns to face him, still gaping in shock.  
  
“What on earth happened?” he asks, as their daughter excitedly waves one of her bath toys in his general direction. It takes Dan a second longer than normal to respond, but when he does, there’s amusement seeping into his voice and a twinkle of humour back in his eyes.  
  
“Oh, nothing much. Mr Duckie over there was clearly hiding a rocket up his-“  
  
_“Dan..!”_  
  
“…Backside” Dan continues, ignoring the interruption entirely, “and as he was zooming across the bath, there were… very splashy consequences. _Yes, yes there were. And Daddy wasn’t expecting to have a shower until later, after **someone** is in bed asleep. No he wasn’t. Oh, funny, was it? C’mere you little demon_ ” he finishes, reaching for the showerhead and beginning to rinse the bubbles out of the dark curls, and laughing softly as the toddler blows raspberries as the water runs down over her face, spraying both her parents in the process.  
  
Phil reaches down under the water and pulls the plug so the bath starts draining, and reaches for the towel hanging on the heated rail beside him. As Dan finishes rinsing the suds, then hangs the showerhead attachment back up out of reach of little hands, he gently grabs hold of the wriggling child before she stands up and slips, or, more likely, submerges herself in the bubbles again as some form of bath time-prolonging protest.  
  
In one smooth movement, he lifts her out of the water, and wraps her in the warm towel, holding her against his chest to prevent any escapes as he gently rubs the fluffy material over her body from head to foot. Or maybe it’s to enjoy a quick sneaky cuddle. Or even just to see the expression on Dan’s face as he watches them together. Phil’s happiest when Dan is happy, and little moments like this, when their little family is together, safe and warm and loving are precious to the both of them.

He smiles his thanks when Dan hands him the moisturiser, and quickly rubs the bar between his palms and quickly over their child, as she makes yet another escape bid, which fails as Dan catches her before she's moved three steps towards the door. Laughing, Phil turns to grab her pyjamas, before turning back to his husband, who is busy avoiding eye contact with a guilty expression on his face.

"Dan...? Is that a-"

"Yes, okay, **I know** , alright?! but before you start, she's grown out of the Piglet one, and _in-wuh-un-uh-er in_ the store, and it's **adorable** , look...!"

He doesn't bother pausing as he bites through the price tag, not wanting to let Phil answer until he's demonstrated the level of cuteness that more than justifies (in his mind, at least) what in all honesty had been a completely unnecessary (not to mention full and probably over-priced) impulse purchase the day before.

"She's got a drawer full of onesies though. She doesn't _need_..."

"Are you **really** going to say I'm wasting money, Mr ' _I use my daughter as an excuse for my ever-worsening Lush addiction?_ " Dan jokes, and Phil laughs along with him before responding.

"Yes, okay, point made. _'Well-loved,'_ right?"

Dan just winks and smiles, eyebrow raised, before addressing their daughter as he fastens the poppers on the new Tigger onesie. "We'd better get working on getting you a little brother or sister, hadn't we? Before we ruin you completely!”

Phil, suddenly frozen in place, completely misses Dan gesturing towards the complete outfit, and giving the attached tail a gentle tug as she twirls between them both - he's lost in his own thoughts about the sentence his husband just uttered oh-so-casually. It never ceases to amaze him, just how throwaway comments like the one Dan just made have the ability to freeze him in place, like he's just had a bucket of ice water dumped over his head, even as warmth from both the words and the realisation of what they mean flood through him, leaving him snared in both memories of happy moments in their past as a family and his dreams for the future.

He's instantly reminded of moments like the one they just had. Them each watching the other interacting with their daughter, stretching back to when she was first placed in Dan's arms mere minutes after she was born, Phil watching the expression on his face soften, then crumple completely as he gazed at her before turning to Phil and carefully bending his upper body around his... _their_ daughter so he could press his face into his husband’s neck, as he sobbed in pure happiness.

Before that even. The excitement and emotions they shared either at the numerous appointments they'd attended, ultrasound scans, parenting classes, that _one_ hypnobirthing class they attended, (where it became quickly apparent that it would be Dan who'd need the relaxation and breathing exercises more than anyone else during the labour and delivery) before the idea was swiftly abandoned, shopping trips for furniture, decorating the nursery, and other baby-related essentials and definitely non-essential items...

He's so absorbed by the sudden flood of memories that the realisation that this could all happen again sneaks up on him slowly, as if it’s not something he has longed for, a dream he’d shelved in that moment he’d told Dan that he wanted them to have _his_ baby first.  
  
He’d never wavered, not through Dan’s seemingly endless attempts to change his mind, which over time changed to questions seeking confirmation of his resolve, which was only ever tested after the fact; specifically when they told Phil’s parents about their impending parenthood, and saw the expression of… what he still wasn’t sure, exactly, but what he'd taken in that instant to be a flash of surprise and disappointment **stung** before his mother managed to school her expression and congratulated them as if the news was the best she’d ever received, and all she’d ever hoped for.  
  
This time however, they'd just be telling people, and that would be it. There'd be no awkward questions to ask, or answer, everybody they told would already _know_. There'd be no "next time" said as a compromise, with a half-apologetic smile.

This time.

It’s not as if he doesn’t know that Dan will have noticed him being so deeply lost in thought with no explanation, especially for so long. He goes through the motions of putting the baby to bed, but everything he does and says is so obviously automatic, so distracted in a way that it never usually is, despite them having gone through this exact routine countless times. Cuddles, kisses, turning on the soft nightlight and switching off the overhead light as Dan tucks her in for the night, they both sing their night-night songs before one last kiss each to their half-asleep daughter and leaving the nursery, pulling the door to behind them, and heading to the lounge where they half-curl up, half collapse onto the sofa.  
  
It's not until later that Dan brings it up, a mixture of what Phil knows to be equal parts inquisitiveness, and the simple fact he cares, and wants to help if he suspects Phil has something on his mind, but deep down, even after all these years and everything they've done and experienced and worked through together, there’s still that underlying slim thread of fear that niggles away, and leaves him worried Phil might be on the verge of leaving him. And it's this knowledge (no matter how unfounded a fear that is - he's not going anywhere, ever) that gets him to open up, even when it's just a series of half-formed and half-forgotten nonsense, nebulous ideas swirling to the forefront of his brain, but drifting away again before he can grab it and form it into something more permanent.

For a fraction of a second, he considers dodging the question, or deflecting it until he's worked out what to say and the right way of saying it, but-

"Did you really mean what you said before?"  
  
It bursts out almost unconsciously, and Phil sees the shock he's feeling mirrored on Dan's face, watches as it passes through confusion to a slightly furrowed brow as he plays the evening's events back, trying to pick out what could have prompted the question.

"Before, in the bathroom. A-about..."

He pauses, unable to continue as Dan's expression freezes, paused almost comically with one eyebrow raised questioningly, as his eyes widen with sudden understanding.

" _Phil_ …”  
“ _Dan_ …”  
  
  
“Are you-?"  
"I want-"

It's not often they're this uncoordinated, talking over each other, but as they both fall silent, each with a rapidly widening smile spreading across their face, they try again.

"You-"  
"-first" Dan finishes, even as he bursts out laughing as Phil, giggling, hands pressed against his mouth, buries his face into his lap.

They stay like that for a minute or two, before Phil turns over, staring up fondly at Dan, who, always able to suppress even the worst of a laughing fit at a moment’s notice, is waiting for him to re-emerge, combing his fingers gently through his hair.

“We always said we’d try for two. And yes, before you ask, I’m sure, I think now’s the perfect time for u-ooffffffff“  
  
Dan is cut off suddenly as Phil launches himself up off his lap then tackles him back onto the sofa, pressing kisses against his face, lips, neck and hair in excitement, babbling a frantic, incoherent mixture of I-love-yous, thank-yous, and promises into their embrace. Eventually Dan, still laughing happily, pushes at Phil’s chest lightly, just enough to create the tiniest space between them, and catches Phil’s face between his hands so they can continue the conversation.  
  
“So this means we need to make a call then?”  
  
Phil nods once, determinedly, as Dan reaches for his phone on the arm of the sofa.  
  
“I’ll get us a reservation for lunch if she’s free next week… **_What?!_** ” He interrupts himself as Dan exasperatedly swats at the side of his head, shaking his own in disbelief.  
  
“Philip Lester. You are **literally** going to be getting her pregnant. You could at least pay for dinner, you utter mmmpfh-!” He’s cut off, as Phil, grinning still, covers his mouth with one hand, and presses “call” on his phone with the other.

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, I'm aware of how ridiculously long it's been since I uploaded anything fic-wise. I'mma try and work on getting a few more of the 17(!!!!!) WIPs I have saved/abandoned/half-forgotten about on my laptop somewhen soon.  
> It's been a rough few months, but things are looking up.
> 
> Thanks to the SlackChat lovelies for endless support and sneaky beta-ing and confidence re-enforcing that finally got me to finish this story, and stop fiddling with it! And thanks to you for reading if you got this far! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Feel free to pester the hell out of me on twitter (@DryCerealThief) if I disappear off the face of the earth again!


End file.
